Incarnates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To bring an abstract idea into a physical existence through embodiment
2. Puts a spirit or abstract quality into a concrete or visible form as if taking flesh
3. Expresses or represents a concept or essence through a tangible or living form

Etymology: "Incarnates" is the third-person singular present form of "incarnate," a verb meaning to give bodily or physical form to something abstract. The verb is a 16th-century borrowing: it was first recorded in 1533, taken directly from the Ecclesiastical Latin "incarnātus," the past participle of "incarnare," which in turn draws on "carō," the Latin word for "flesh." The word's older history is more striking. Its Latin ingredients are "in-" and "carn-," the stem of "carō," which is also the root behind English "carnal" and "carnivore." The Latin verb was used in Christian theology to describe the Son of God taking on human flesh, and English still carries that religious sense in older usage: the Middle English "incarnat" and the phrase "God incarnate," first recorded in 1395, applied the term specifically to Christ being embodied in human form. Because the verb arrived later than its adjective counterpart, the familiar "incarnate" as an adjective (as in "the devil incarnate") predates the verb's use as a general way of saying something has been given concrete form.

Synonyms: embodies, represents, manifests, materializes